Cotton variety 15R508

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to the novel cotton variety designated 15R508. Provided by the invention are the seeds, plants, plant parts and derivatives of the cotton variety 15R508. Also provided by the invention are methods of using cotton variety 15R508 and products derived therefrom. Still further provided by the invention are methods for producing cotton plants by crossing the cotton variety 15R508 with itself or another cotton variety and plants and seeds produced by such methods.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the priority of U.S. Provisional Appl. Ser. No.62/174,331, filed Jun. 11, 2015, the entire disclosure of which isincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to the field of cotton breeding.In particular, the invention relates to the novel cotton variety 15R508.

2. Description of Related Art

The goal of a commercial cotton breeding program is to develop new,unique and superior cotton varieties. In cotton, important traitsinclude higher fiber (lint) yield, earlier maturity, improved fiberquality, resistance to diseases and insects, tolerance to drought andheat, and improved agronomic traits. The breeder initially selects andcrosses two or more parental lines, followed by generation advancementand selection, thus producing many new genetic combinations. The breedercan theoretically generate billions of different genetic combinationsvia this procedure.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One aspect of the present invention relates to seed of the cottonvariety 15R508. The invention also relates to plants produced by growingthe seed of the cotton variety 15R508, as well as the derivatives ofsuch plants. As used herein, the term “plant” includes plant cells,plant protoplasts, plant cells of a tissue culture from which cottonplants can be regenerated, plant calli, plant clumps, and plant cellsthat are intact in plants or parts of plants, such as pollen, flowers,seeds, bolls, leaves, stems, and the like.

Another aspect of the invention relates to a tissue culture ofregenerable cells of the cotton variety 15R508, as well as plantsregenerated therefrom, wherein the regenerated cotton plant is capableof expressing all of the morphological and physiological characteristicsof a plant grown from the cotton seed designated 15R508.

Yet another aspect of the current invention is a cotton plant of thecotton variety 15R508 further comprising a single locus conversion. Inone embodiment, the cotton plant is defined as comprising the singlelocus conversion and otherwise capable of expressing all of themorphological and physiological characteristics of the cotton variety15R508. In particular embodiments of the invention, the single locusconversion may comprise a transgenic gene which has been introduced bygenetic transformation into the cotton variety 15R508 or a progenitorthereof. A transgenic or non-transgenic single locus conversion can alsobe introduced by backcrossing, as is well known in the art. In certainembodiments of the invention, the single locus conversion may comprise adominant or recessive allele. The locus conversion may conferpotentially any desired trait upon the plant as described herein.

Still yet another aspect of the invention relates to a first generation(F₁) hybrid cotton seed produced by crossing a plant of the cottonvariety 15R508 to a second cotton plant. Also included in the inventionare the F₁ hybrid cotton plants grown from the hybrid seed produced bycrossing the cotton variety 15R508 to a second cotton plant. Stillfurther included in the invention are the seeds of an F₁ hybrid plantproduced with the cotton variety 15R508 as one parent, the secondgeneration (F₂) hybrid cotton plant grown from the seed of the F₁ hybridplant, and the seeds of the F₂ hybrid plant.

In a further aspect of the invention, a composition is providedcomprising a seed of cotton variety 15R508 comprised in plant seedgrowth media. In certain embodiments, the plant seed growth media is asoil or synthetic cultivation medium. In specific embodiments, thegrowth medium may be comprised in a container or may, for example, besoil in a field. Plant seed growth media are well known to those ofskill in the art and include, but are in no way limited to, soil orsynthetic cultivation medium. Advantageously, plant seed growth mediacan provide adequate physical support for seeds and can retain moistureand/or nutritional components. Examples of characteristics for soilsthat may be desirable in certain embodiments can be found, for instance,in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,932,166 and 4,707,176. Synthetic plant cultivationmedia are also well known in the art and may, in certain embodiments,comprise polymers or hydrogels. Examples of such compositions aredescribed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,241,537.

Still yet another aspect of the invention is a method of producingcotton seeds comprising crossing a plant of the cotton variety 15R508 toany second cotton plant, including itself or another plant of thevariety 15R508. In particular embodiments of the invention, the methodof crossing comprises the steps of a) planting seeds of the cottonvariety 15R508; b) cultivating cotton plants resulting from said seedsuntil said plants bear flowers; c) allowing fertilization of the flowersof said plants; and, d) harvesting seeds produced from said plants.

Still yet another aspect of the invention is a method of producinghybrid cotton seeds comprising crossing the cotton variety 15R508 to asecond, distinct cotton plant which is nonisogenic to the cotton variety15R508. In particular embodiments of the invention, the crossingcomprises the steps of a) planting seeds of cotton variety 15R508 and asecond, distinct cotton plant, b) cultivating the cotton plants grownfrom the seeds until the plants bear flowers; c) cross pollinating aflower on one of the two plants with the pollen of the other plant, andd) harvesting the seeds resulting from the cross pollinating.

Still yet another aspect of the invention is a method for developing acotton plant in a cotton breeding program comprising: obtaining a cottonplant, or its parts, of the variety 15R508; and b) employing said plantor parts as a source of breeding material using plant breedingtechniques. In the method, the plant breeding techniques may be selectedfrom the group consisting of recurrent selection, mass selection, bulkselection, backcrossing, pedigree breeding, genetic marker-assistedselection and genetic transformation. In certain embodiments of theinvention, the cotton plant of variety 15R508 is used as the male orfemale parent.

Still yet another aspect of the invention is a method of producing acotton plant derived from the cotton variety 15R508, the methodcomprising the steps of: (a) preparing a progeny plant derived fromcotton variety 15R508 by crossing a plant of the cotton variety 15R508with a second cotton plant; and (b) crossing the progeny plant withitself or a second plant to produce a progeny plant of a subsequentgeneration which is derived from a plant of the cotton variety 15R508.In one embodiment of the invention, the method further comprises: (c)crossing the progeny plant of a subsequent generation with itself or asecond plant; and (d) repeating steps (b) and (c) for at least 2-10additional generations to produce an inbred cotton plant derived fromthe cotton variety 15R508. Also provided by the invention is a plantproduced by this and the other methods of the invention. Plant variety15R508-derived plants produced by this and the other methods of theinvention described herein may, in certain embodiments of the invention,be further defined as comprising the traits of plant variety 15R508given in Table 1.

The use of the word “a” or “an” when used in conjunction with the term“comprising” in the claims and/or the specification may mean “one,” butit is also consistent with the meaning of “one or more,” “at least one,”and “one or more than one.”

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention willbecome apparent from the following detailed description. It should beunderstood, however, that the detailed description and the specificexamples, while indicating specific embodiments of the invention, aregiven by way of illustration only, since various changes andmodifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will becomeapparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention provides, in one aspect, methods and composition relatingto plants, seeds and derivatives of the cotton variety 15R508. Cottonvariety 15R508 was developed from an initial cross of 02X09/FM958. Thebreeding history of the variety can be summarized as follows:

Generation Year Description Cross 2003 Cross was made in Scott, MSbetween experimental lines 02X09 and FM958. F₁ 2003 Plants grown inwinter nursery near Canas, Costa Rica and advanced using bulk. F₂ 2004Plants grown in Scott, MS and advanced using bulk. F₃ 2005 Plants grownin Hale Center, TX and advanced using bulk. F₄ 2006 Plants grown in HaleCenter, TX advanced using single plant selection. F₅ 2007 Progeny rowsgrown near Hale Center, TX and experimental designation 10V079 applied.

Advanced Testing Number of Generation Year locations Selection F₆ 2008 2selected based on the lint yield, lint percent, fiber quality. F₇ 2009 8selected based on the lint yield, lint percent, fiber quality. F₈ 2010 5selected based on the lint yield, lint percent, fiber quality. F₉ 2011 6selected based on the lint yield, lint percent, fiber quality. F₁₀ 20127 selected based on the lint yield, lint percent, fiber quality. F₁₁2013 8 selected based on the lint yield, lint percent, fiber quality.

The cotton variety 15R508 has been judged to be uniform for breedingpurposes and testing. The variety can be reproduced by planting andgrowing seeds of the variety under self-pollinating or sib-pollinatingconditions, as is known to those of skill in the agricultural arts.Variety 15R508 shows no variants other than what would normally beexpected due to environment or that would occur for almost anycharacteristic during the course of repeated sexual reproduction. Theresults of an objective description of the variety are presented below,in Table 1. Those of skill in the art will recognize that these aretypical values that may vary due to environment and that other valuesthat are substantially equivalent are within the scope of the invention.

TABLE 1 Phenotypic Description of Variety 15R508 Species: Gossypiumhirsutum L Areas of Adaptation: Plains General: Plant Habit:Intermediate Foliage: Intermediate Stem Lodging: Intermediate FruitingBranch: Normal Growth: Intermediate Leaf Color: Medium green Boll Shape:Length more than width Boll Breadth: Broadest at middle Plant: Cm to1^(st) Fruiting Branch (from cotyledonary node): 17.0 No. of Nodes to1^(st) Fruiting Branch (excluding cotyledonary node): 5.8 Mature PlantHeight (from cotyledonary node to terminal): 103 cm Leaf (Upper most,fully expanded leaf): Type: Normal Pubescence: Dense Nectaries: PresentStem: Stem Pubescence: Intermediate Glands: Leaf: Normal Stem: NormalCalyx lobe (normal is absent): Normal Flower: Petals: Cream Pollen:Cream Petal Spot: Absent Seed: Seed Index (g/100 seeds, fuzzy basis):8.27 Lint Index (g lint/100 seeds): 6.74 Boll: Lint percent, picked:41.69 Number of seeds per boll: 25.64 Grams Seed Cotton per Boll: 4.0Boll Type: Open Fiber Properties: Method (HVI or other): HVI Length(inches, 2.5% SL): 1.115 Uniformity (%): 83.22 Strength, T1 (g/tex):30.26 Elongation, E1 (%): 7.75 Micronaire: 4.98 Diseases: BacterialBlight (race 1): Susceptible Bacterial Blight (race 2): SusceptibleBacterial Blight (race 18): Susceptible Verticillium Wilt: Moderatelysusceptible These are typical values. Values may vary due toenvironment. Other values that aresubstantially equivalent are withinthe scope of the invention.

The performance characteristics of cotton variety 15R508 were alsoanalyzed and comparisons were made with competing varieties. The resultsof the analysis are presented below, in Table 2.

TABLE 2 Performance Data for Variety 15R508 Entries Compared YLD_BE LTACTSCYD LP MIC LNTH UNIF STRN EL 15R508 1,452 1,450 3,466 41.77 4.94 1.1283.28 30.38 7.87 10V053 1,522 1,526 3,493 43.57 5.02 1.16 83.85 31.097.5 Deviation 70.22 75.84 27.72 1.8 0.08 0.04 0.57 0.71 −0.37Significance ** ** ** * ** ** ** ** # Obs 104 104 104 108 48 48 48 48 48Years 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 Win Percent 70 69 58 90 40 94 74 70 22 Test Mean1,452 1,451 3,430 42.29 4.82 1.14 83.49 30.65 7.79 15R508 1,489 1,4893,554 41.78 4.96 1.12 83.22 30.22 7.84 10H424 1,497 1,486 3,687 40.324.7 1.15 83.26 30.1 7.41 Deviation −8.13 3.15 −133 1.45 0.26 −0.03 −0.050.11 0.44 Significance ** ** ** ** ** # Obs 99 99 99 103 44 44 44 44 44Years 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 Win Percent 48 51 32 93 7 11 47 57 74 Test Mean1,482 1,481 3,497 42.34 4.85 1.14 83.38 30.44 7.84 Entries ComparedFMATR SFC BOP STRMTR BLLSZ PHT SWC 15R508 86.63 7.54 50 5.8 4.5 38.5 8.810V053 87.17 7.34 41 5.8 5.1 37.8 8.4 Deviation 0.54 −0.2 −8.96 −0.040.59 −0.75 −0.43 Significance ** * ** * # Obs 48 48 60 52 2 2 4 Years 66 6 6 1 1 2 Win Percent 84 62 91 49 0 50 100 Test Mean 86.43 7.67 44 5.65 35.4 8.7 15R508 86.68 7.46 50 5.9 8.8 10H424 86.37 7.61 45 4.5 9.4Deviation 0.31 −0.14 4.85 1.43 −0.62 Significance ** ** ** + # Obs 44 4457 49 4 Years 5 5 5 5 2 Win Percent 69 61 30 2 100 Test Mean 86.45 7.6243 5.7 8.7 **, *, + Significant at P < 0.01, 0.05, or 0.10, respectively

I. BREEDING COTTON VARIETY 15R508

One aspect of the current invention concerns methods for crossing thecotton variety 15R508 with itself or a second plant and the seeds andplants produced by such methods. These methods can be used forpropagation of the cotton variety 15R508, or can be used to producehybrid cotton seeds and the plants grown therefrom. A hybrid plant canbe used as a recurrent parent at any given stage in a backcrossingprotocol during the production of a single locus conversion of thecotton variety 15R508.

The variety of the present invention is well suited to the developmentof new varieties based on the elite nature of the genetic background ofthe variety. In selecting a second plant to cross with 15R508 for thepurpose of developing novel cotton varieties, it will typically bedesired to choose those plants which themselves exhibit one or moreselected desirable characteristics. Examples of potentially desiredcharacteristics include higher fiber (lint) yield, earlier maturity,improved fiber quality, resistance to diseases and insects, tolerance todrought and heat, and improved agronomic traits.

Any time the cotton variety 15R508 is crossed with another, different,variety, first generation (F₁) cotton progeny are produced. The hybridprogeny are produced regardless of characteristics of the two varietiesproduced. As such, an F₁ hybrid cotton plant may be produced by crossing15R508 with any second cotton plant. The second cotton plant may begenetically homogeneous (e.g., inbred) or may itself be a hybrid.Therefore, any F₁ hybrid cotton plant produced by crossing cottonvariety 15R508 with a second cotton plant is a part of the presentinvention.

Cotton plants can be crossed by either natural or mechanical techniques.Natural pollination occurs in cotton either by self pollination ornatural cross pollination, which typically is aided by pollinatingorganisms. In either natural or artificial crosses, flowering andflowering time are important considerations.

The cotton flower is perfect in that the male and female structures arein the same flower. The crossed or hybrid seed can be produced by manualcrosses between selected parents. Floral buds of the parent that is tobe the female can be emasculated prior to the opening of the flower bymanual removal of the male anthers. At flowering, the pollen fromflowers of the parent plants designated as male, can be manually placedon the stigma of the previous emasculated flower. Seed developed fromthe cross is known as first generation (F₁) hybrid seed. Planting ofthis seed produces F₁ hybrid plants of which half their geneticcomponent is from the female parent and half from the male parent.Segregation of genes begins at meiosis thus producing second generation(F₂) seed. Assuming multiple genetic differences between the originalparents, each F₂ seed has a unique combination of genes.

Self-pollination occurs naturally in cotton with no manipulation of theflowers. For the crossing of two cotton plants, it may be beneficial touse artificial hybridization. In artificial hybridization, the flowerused as a female in a cross is manually cross pollinated prior tomaturation of pollen from the flower, thereby preventing selffertilization, or alternatively, the male parts of the flower areemasculated using a technique known in the art. Techniques foremasculating the male parts of a cotton flower include, for example,physical removal of the male parts, use of a genetic factor conferringmale sterility, and application of a chemical gametocide to the maleparts.

For artificial hybridization employing emasculation, flowers that areexpected to open the following day are selected on the female parent.The buds are swollen and the corolla is just visible through the calyxor has begun to emerge. Usually no more than two buds on a parent plantare prepared, and all self-pollinated flowers or immature buds areremoved with forceps. Special care is required to remove immature budsthat are hidden under the stipules at the leaf axil, and could developinto flowers at a later date. The flower is grasped between the thumband index finger and the location of the stigma determined by examiningthe sepals. The calyx is removed by grasping a sepal with the forceps,pulling it down and around the flower, and repeating the procedure untilthe five sepals are removed. The exposed corolla is removed with care toavoid injuring the stigma. Cross-pollination can then be carried outusing, for example, petri dishes or envelopes in which male flowers havebeen collected. Desiccators containing calcium chloride crystals can beused in some environments to dry male flowers to obtain adequate pollenshed.

Either with or without emasculation of the female flower, handpollination can be carried out by removing the stamens and pistil with aforceps from a flower of the male parent and gently brushing the anthersagainst the stigma of the female flower. Access to the stamens can beachieved by removing the front sepal and keel petals, or piercing thekeel with closed forceps and allowing them to open to push the petalsaway. Brushing the anthers on the stigma causes them to rupture, and thehighest percentage of successful crosses is obtained when pollen isclearly visible on the stigma. Pollen shed can be checked by tapping theanthers before brushing the stigma. Several male flowers may have to beused to obtain suitable pollen shed when conditions are unfavorable, orthe same male may be used to pollinate several flowers with good pollenshed.

Cross-pollination is more common within rows than between adjacent rows;therefore, it may be beneficial to grow populations with genetic malesterility on a square grid to create rows in all directions. Forexample, single-plant hills on 50-cm centers may be used, withsubdivision of the area into blocks of an equal number of hills forharvest from bulks of an equal amount of seed from male-sterile plantsin each block to enhance random pollination.

There are numerous steps in the development of any novel, desirableplant germplasm. Plant breeding begins with the analysis and definitionof problems and weaknesses of the current germplasm, the establishmentof program goals, and the definition of specific breeding objectives.The next step is selection of germplasm that possess the traits to meetthe program goals. The goal is to combine in a single variety animproved combination of desirable traits from the parental germplasm.These important traits may include resistance to diseases and insects,tolerance to drought and heat, tolerance to herbicides, improvements infiber traits and numerous other agronomic traits that may be desirableto the farmer or end user.

Choice of breeding or selection methods depends on the mode of plantreproduction, the heritability of the trait(s) being improved, and thetype of variety used commercially (e.g., F₁ hybrid variety, purelinevariety, etc.). For highly heritable traits, a choice of superiorindividual plants evaluated at a single location will be effective,whereas for traits with low heritability, selection should be based onmean values obtained from replicated evaluations of families of relatedplants. Popular selection methods commonly include pedigree selection,modified pedigree selection, mass selection, recurrent selection andbackcrossing.

The complexity of inheritance influences choice of the breeding method.Backcross breeding is used to transfer one or a few favorable genes fora highly heritable trait into a desirable variety. This approach hasbeen used extensively for breeding disease-resistant plant varieties.Various recurrent selection techniques are used to improvequantitatively inherited traits controlled by numerous genes. The use ofrecurrent selection in self-pollinating crops depends on the ease ofpollination, the frequency of successful hybrids from each pollination,and the number of offspring from each successful cross.

Each breeding program should include a periodic, objective evaluation ofthe efficiency of the breeding procedure. Evaluation criteria varydepending on the goal and objectives, but should include gain fromselection per year based on comparisons to an appropriate standard,overall value of the advanced breeding lines, and number of successfulvarieties produced per unit of input (e.g., per year, per dollarexpended, etc.).

Promising advanced breeding lines are thoroughly tested and compared toappropriate standards in environments representative of the commercialtarget area(s) for generally three or more years. The best lines arecandidates for new commercial varieties. Those still deficient in a fewtraits may be used as parents to produce new populations for furtherselection.

These processes, which lead to the final step of marketing anddistribution, may take as much as eight to 12 years from the time thefirst cross is made. Therefore, development of new varieties is atime-consuming process that requires precise forward planning, efficientuse of resources, and a minimum of changes in direction.

A most difficult task is the identification of individuals that aregenetically superior, because for most traits the true genotypic valueis masked by other confounding plant traits or environmental factors.One method of identifying a superior plant is to observe its performancerelative to other experimental plants and to one or more widely grownstandard varieties. Single observations are generally inconclusive,while replicated observations provide a better estimate of geneticworth.

The goal of plant breeding is to develop new, unique and superior cottonvarieties. The breeder initially selects and crosses two or moreparental lines, followed by repeated selfing and selection, producingmany new genetic combinations. Each year, the plant breeder selects thegermplasm to advance to the next generation. This germplasm is grownunder unique and different geographical, climatic and soil conditions,and further selections are then made, during and at the end of thegrowing season. The varieties which are developed are unpredictable.This unpredictability is because the breeder's selection occurs inunique environments, with no control at the DNA level (usingconventional breeding procedures), and with millions of differentpossible genetic combinations being generated. A breeder of ordinaryskill in the art cannot predict the final resulting lines he develops,except possibly in a very gross and general fashion. The same breedercannot produce the same variety twice by using the exact same originalparents and the same selection techniques. This unpredictability resultsin the expenditure of large amounts of research monies to developsuperior new cotton varieties.

Pureline cultivars, such as generally used in cotton and many othercrops, are commonly bred by hybridization of two or more parentsfollowed by selection. The complexity of inheritance, the breedingobjectives and the available resources influence the breeding method.The development of new varieties requires development and selection, thecrossing of varieties and selection of progeny from superior crosses.

Pedigree breeding and recurrent selection breeding methods are used todevelop varieties from breeding populations. Breeding programs combinedesirable traits from two or more varieties or various broad-basedsources into breeding pools from which varieties are developed byselfing and selection of desired phenotypes. The new varieties areevaluated to determine which have commercial potential.

Pedigree breeding is commonly used for the improvement ofself-pollinating crops. Two parents which possess favorable,complementary traits are crossed to produce an F₁. An F₂ population isproduced by selfing one or several F₁ plants. Selection of the bestindividuals may begin in the F₂ population or later depending uponobjectives of the breeder; then, beginning in the F₃, the bestindividuals in the best families can be selected. Replicated testing offamilies can begin in the F₃ or F₄ generation to improve theeffectiveness of selection for traits with low heritability. At anadvanced stage of inbreeding (i.e., F₆ and F₇), the best lines ormixtures of phenotypically similar lines are typically tested forpotential release as new varieties.

Mass and recurrent selections can be used to improve populations ofeither self- or cross-pollinating crops. A genetically variablepopulation of heterozygous individuals is either identified or createdby intercrossing several different parents. The best plants are selectedbased on individual superiority, outstanding progeny, or excellentcombining ability. The selected plants are intercrossed to produce a newpopulation in which further cycles of selection are continued.

The single-seed descent procedure in the strict sense refers to plantinga segregating population, harvesting a sample of one seed per plant, andusing the one-seed sample to plant the next generation. When thepopulation has been advanced from the F₂ to the desired level ofinbreeding, the plants from which lines are derived will each trace todifferent F₂ individuals. The number of plants in a population declineseach generation due to failure of some seeds to germinate or some plantsto produce at least one seed. As a result, not all of the F₂ plantsoriginally sampled in the population will be represented by a progenywhen generation advance is completed.

The modified single seed descent procedures involve harvesting multipleseed (i.e., a single lock or a simple boll) from each plant in apopulation and combining them to form a bulk. Part of the bulk is usedto plant the next generation and part is put in reserve. This procedurehas been used to save labor at harvest and to maintain adequate seedquantities of the population. The multiple-seed procedure may be used tosave labor. It is considerably faster to gin bolls with a machine thanto remove one seed by hand for the single-seed procedure. Themultiple-seed procedure also makes it possible to plant the same numberof seeds of a population each generation of inbreeding. Enough seeds areharvested to make up for those plants that did not germinate or produceseed.

Descriptions of other breeding methods that are commonly used fordifferent traits and crops can be found in one of several referencebooks (e.g., Allard, In: Principles of plant breeding, John Wiley &Sons, NY, University of California, Davis, Calif., 50-98, 1960;Simmonds, In: Principles of crop improvement, Longman, Inc., NY,369-399, 1979; Sneep and Hendriksen, In: Plant breeding perspectives,Wageningen (Ed), Center for Agricultural Publishing and Documentation,1979; Fehr, In: Principles of variety development, Theory and Technique(Vol 1) and Crop Species Soybean (Vol 2), Iowa State Univ., MacmillianPub. Co., NY, 360-376, 1987; Fehr, In: Soybeans: Improvement, Productionand Uses,” 2d Ed., Manograph 16:249, 1987). Additionally, with any ofthe methods disclosed above, mutagenesis can be utilized to increase thediversity of the gene pool that is available in the breeding program.

Proper testing should detect any major faults and establish the level ofsuperiority or improvement over current varieties. In addition toshowing superior performance, there must be a demand for a new varietythat is compatible with industry standards or which creates a newmarket. The introduction of a new variety will incur additional costs tothe seed producer, the grower, processor and consumer; for specialadvertising and marketing, altered seed and commercial productionpractices, and new product utilization. The testing preceding release ofa new variety should take into consideration research and developmentcosts as well as technical superiority of the final variety. Forseed-propagated varieties, it must be feasible to produce seed easilyand economically.

In addition to phenotypic observations, a plant can also becharacterized by its genotype. The genotype of a plant can be determinedby a molecular marker profiling, which can be applied to plants of thesame variety or a related variety, can reveal genetic difference ofplants and plant parts which are genetically superior as a result of anevent comprising a backcross conversion, transgene, or genetic sterilityfactor, and can be used to reveal or validate a pedigree or geneticrelationship among test materials. Such molecular marker profiling canbe accomplished by using a variety of techniques including, but notlimited to, restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), amplifiedfragment length polymorphism (AFLP), sequence-tagged sites (STS),randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD), arbitrarily primed polymerasechain reaction (AP-PCR), DNA amplification fingerprinting (DAF),sequence characterized amplified regions (SCARs), variable number tandemrepeat (VNTR), short tandem repeat (STR), single feature polymorphism(SFP), simple sequence length polymorphism (SSLP), restriction siteassociated DNA, allozymes, isozyme markers, single nucleotidepolymorphisms (SNPs), or simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers, alsoknown as microsatellites (Gupta et al., 1999; Korzun et al., 2001).Various types of these marker platforms, for example, can be used toidentify individual varieties developed from specific parent varieties,as well as cells, or other plant parts thereof. See, for example, Tyagiet al. (2014) “Genetic diversity and population structure in the USUpland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.),” Theoretical and Applied Genetics127(2):283-295; Tatineni et al. (1996) “Genetic diversity in elitecotton germplasm determined by morphological characteristics and RAPDs,”Crop Science 36(1):186-192; and Cho et al. (2014) “Genome-wide SNPmarker panel applicable to Cotton Genetic diversity test,” Proceedingsof the International Cotton Genome Initiative Conference 2(1):11, eachof which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.

In some examples, one or more markers may be used to examine and/orevaluate genetic characteristics of a cotton variety. Particular markersused for these purposes are not limited to any particular set of markersand diagnostic platforms, but are envisioned to include any type ofmarkers and diagnostic platforms that can provide means fordistinguishing varieties. One method of genetic characterization may touse only homozygous loci for cotton variety 15R508.

Primers and PCR protocols for assaying these and other markers aredisclosed in, for example, CottonGen located on the World Wide Web atcottongen.org. In addition to being used for identification of cottonvariety 15R508, as well as plant parts and plant cells of cotton variety15R508, a genetic profile may be used to identify a cotton plantproduced through the use of cotton variety 15R508 or to verify apedigree for progeny plants produced through the use of cotton variety15R508. A genetic marker profile may also be useful in breeding anddeveloping backcross conversions.

In an embodiment, the present invention provides a cotton plantcharacterized by molecular and physiological data obtained from arepresentative sample of said variety deposited with the American TypeCulture Collection (ATCC). Thus, plants, seeds, or parts thereof, havingall or essentially all of the morphological and physiologicalcharacteristics of cotton variety 15R508 are provided. Further providedis a cotton plant formed by the combination of the disclosed cottonplant or plant cell with another cotton plant or cell and comprising thehomozygous alleles of the variety.

In some examples, a plant, a plant part, or a seed of cotton variety15R508 may be characterized by producing a molecular profile. Amolecular profile may include, but is not limited to, one or moregenotypic and/or phenotypic profile(s). A genotypic profile may include,but is not limited to, a marker profile, such as a genetic map, alinkage map, a trait maker profile, a SNP profile, an SSR profile, agenome-wide marker profile, a haplotype, and the like. A molecularprofile may also be a nucleic acid sequence profile, and/or a physicalmap. A phenotypic profile may include, but is not limited to, a proteinexpression profile, a metabolic profile, an mRNA expression profile, andthe like.

One means of performing genetic marker profiling is using SSRpolymorphisms that are well known in the art. A marker system based onSSRs can be highly informative in linkage analysis relative to othermarker systems, in that multiple alleles for a given locus may bepresent. Another advantage of this type of marker is that through use offlanking primers, collecting more informative SSR data can be relativelyeasily achieved, for example, by using the polymerase chain reaction(PCR), thereby eliminating the need for labor-intensive Southernhybridization. PCR detection may be performed using two oligonucleotideprimers flanking the polymorphic segment of repetitive DNA to amplifythe SSR region.

Following amplification, genotype of test material revealed by eachmarker can be scored by electrophoresis of the amplification products.Scoring of marker genotype is based on the size of the amplifiedfragment, which correlates to the number of base pairs of the fragment.While variation in the primer used or in the laboratory procedures canaffect the reported fragment size, relative values should remainconstant regardless of specific primer or laboratory used. Whencomparing varieties, it may be beneficial to have all profiles performedin the same lab. Primers that can be used are publically available andmay be found in, for example, CottonGen (Yu et al., CottonGen: agenomics, genetics and breeding database for cotton research,” NucleicAcids Research 42 (D1):D1229-D1236, 2013).

A genotypic profile of cotton variety 15R508 can be used to identify aplant comprising variety 15R508 as a parent, since such plants willcomprise the same homozygous alleles as variety 15R508. Because thecotton variety at inbred stage is essentially homozygous at all relevantloci, most loci should have only one type of allele present. Incontrast, a genetic marker profile of an F₁ progeny should be the sum ofthose parents, e.g., if one parent was homozygous for allele X at aparticular locus, and the other parent homozygous for allele Y at thatlocus, then the F₁ progeny will be XY (heterozygous) at that locus.Subsequent generations of progeny produced by selection and breeding areexpected to be of genotype XX (homozygous), YY (homozygous), or XY(heterozygous) for that locus position. When the F₁ plant is selfed orsibbed for successive filial generations, the locus should be either Xor Y for that position.

In addition, plants and plant parts substantially benefiting from theuse of variety 15R508 in their development, such as variety 15R508comprising a backcross conversion, transgene, or genetic sterilityfactor, may be identified by having a molecular marker profile with ahigh percent identity to cotton variety 15R508. Such a percent identitymight be 90%, 91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99%, 99.5% or99.9% identical to cotton variety 15R508.

A genotypic profile of variety 15R508 also can be used to identifyessentially derived varieties and other progeny varieties developed fromthe use of variety 15R508, as well as cells and other plant partsthereof. Plants of the invention include any plant having at least 90%,91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99%, 99.5%, or 99.9% of themarkers in the genotypic profile, and that retain 90%, 91%, 92%, 93%,94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99%, 99.5%, or 99.9% of the morphological andphysiological characteristics of variety 15R508 when grown under thesame conditions. Such plants may be developed using markers well knownin the art. Progeny plants and plant parts produced using variety 15R508may be identified, for example, by having a molecular marker profile ofat least 25%, 30%, 35%, 40%, 45%, 50%, 55%, 60%, 65%, 70%, 75%, 76%,77%, 78%, 79%, 80%, 81%, 82%, 83%, 84%, 85%, 86%, 87%, 88%, 89%, 90%,91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99%, or 99.5% geneticcontribution from cotton variety 15R508, as measured by either percentidentity or percent similarity. Such progeny may be furthercharacterized as being within a pedigree distance of variety 15R508,such as within 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 or less cross pollinations to a cottonplant other than variety 15R508, or a plant that has variety 15R508 as aprogenitor. Unique molecular profiles may be identified with othermolecular tools, such as SNPs and RFLPs.

The two cotton species commercially grown in the United States areGossypium hirsutum, commonly known as short staple or upland cotton andGossypium barbadense, commonly known as extra long staple (ELS) or, inthe United States, as Pima cotton. Upland cotton fiber is used in a widearray of coarser spin count products. Pima cotton is used in finer spincount yarns (50-80) which are primarily used in more expensive garments.Other properties of Pima cotton are critical because of fiber end use.

Cotton is an important and valuable field crop. Thus, a continuing goalof plant breeders is to develop stable, high yielding cotton varietiesthat are agronomically sound. The reasons for this goal are obviously tomaximize the amount and quality of the fiber produced on the land usedand to supply fiber, oil and food for animals and humans. To accomplishthis goal, the cotton breeder must select and develop plants that havethe traits that result in superior cultivars.

II. IMPROVEMENT OF COTTON VARIETIES

In certain further aspects, the invention provides plants modified toinclude at least a first desired trait. Such plants may, in oneembodiment, be developed by a plant breeding technique calledbackcrossing, wherein essentially all of the morphological andphysiological characteristics of a variety are recovered in addition toa genetic locus transferred into the hybrid via the backcrossingtechnique. The term backcrossing as used herein refers to the repeatedcrossing of a hybrid progeny back to a starting variety into whichintroduction of the desired trait is being carried out. The parentalplant which contributes the locus or loci for the desired trait istermed the nonrecurrent or donor parent. This terminology refers to thefact that the nonrecurrent parent is used one time in the backcrossprotocol and therefore does not recur.

The parental cotton plant to which the locus or loci from thenonrecurrent parent are transferred is known as the recurrent parent asit is used for several rounds in the backcrossing protocol (Poehlman andSleper, In: Breeding Field Crops, Iowa State University Press, Ames,1995; Sprague and Dudley, In: Corn and Improvement, 3rd ed., 1988; Fehr,In: Principles of variety development, Theory and Technique (Vol 1) andCrop Species Soybean (Vol 2), Iowa State Univ., Macmillian Pub. Co., NY,360-376, 1987b; Fehr, In: Soybeans: Improvement, Production and Uses,”2d Ed., Monograph 16:249, 1987). In a typical backcross protocol, theoriginal line of interest (recurrent parent) is crossed to a secondvariety (nonrecurrent parent) that carries the genetic locus to betransferred. The resulting progeny from this cross are then crossedagain to the recurrent parent and the process is repeated until a cottonplant is obtained wherein essentially all of the morphological andphysiological characteristics of the recurrent parent are recovered inthe converted plant, in addition to the transferred locus from thenonrecurrent parent.

The backcross process may be accelerated by the use of genetic markers,such as Simple Sequence Length Polymorphisms (SSLPs) (Williams et al.,Nucleic Acids Res., 18:6531-6535, 1990), Randomly Amplified PolymorphicDNAs (RAPDs), DNA Amplification Fingerprinting (DAF), SequenceCharacterized Amplified Regions (SCARs), Arbitrary Primed PolymeraseChain Reaction (AP-PCR), Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphisms (AFLPs)(EP 534 858, specifically incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety), and Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) (Wang et al.,Science, 280:1077-1082, 1998) to identify plants with the greatestgenetic complement from the recurrent parent.

The selection of a suitable recurrent parent is an important step for asuccessful backcrossing procedure. The goal of a backcross protocol isto add or substitute one or more new traits in a variety. To accomplishthis, a genetic locus of the recurrent parent is modified or substitutedwith the desired locus from the nonrecurrent parent, while retainingessentially all of the rest of the genetic, and therefore themorphological and physiological constitution of the original variety.The choice of the particular nonrecurrent parent will depend on thepurpose of the backcross; one of the major purposes is to add somecommercially desirable, agronomically important trait to the plant. Theexact backcrossing protocol will depend on the characteristic or traitbeing altered to determine an appropriate testing protocol. Althoughbackcrossing methods are simplified when the characteristic beingtransferred is a dominant allele, a recessive allele may also betransferred. In this instance it may be necessary to introduce a test ofthe progeny to determine if the desired characteristic has beensuccessfully transferred.

Many traits have been identified that are not regularly selected for inthe development of a new variety but that can be improved bybackcrossing techniques. A genetic locus conferring the traits may ormay not be transgenic. Examples of such traits known to those of skillin the art include, but are not limited to, male sterility, herbicidetolerance, resistance for bacterial, fungal, or viral disease, insect ornematode resistance, male sterility, ease of transformation, resistanceto abiotic stresses and improved fiber characteristics. These genes aregenerally inherited through the nucleus, but may be inherited throughthe cytoplasm.

Direct selection may be applied where a genetic locus acts as a dominanttrait. An example of a dominant trait is the herbicide tolerance trait.For this selection process, the progeny of the initial cross are sprayedwith the herbicide prior to the backcrossing. The spraying eliminatesany plants which do not have the desired herbicide tolerancecharacteristic, and only those plants which have the herbicide tolerancegene are used in the subsequent backcross. This process is then repeatedfor all additional backcross generations.

Many useful traits are those which are introduced by genetictransformation techniques. Methods for the genetic transformation ofcotton are known to those of skill in the art, (see, e.g. Firoozabady etal., Plant Mol. Biol., 10:105-116, 1987). For example, broadlyapplicable plant transformation methods which have been describedinclude Agrobacterium-mediated transformation, microprojectilebombardment, electroporation, and direct DNA uptake by protoplasts.

Agrobacterium-mediated transfer is a widely applicable system forintroducing gene loci into plant cells, including cotton. An advantageof the technique is that DNA can be introduced into whole plant tissues,thereby bypassing the need for regeneration of an intact plant from aprotoplast. Modern Agrobacterium transformation vectors are capable ofreplication in E. coli as well as Agrobacterium, allowing for convenientmanipulations (Klee et al., Bio. Tech., 3(7):637-642, 1985). Moreover,recent technological advances in vectors for Agrobacterium-mediated genetransfer have improved the arrangement of genes and restriction sites inthe vectors to facilitate the construction of vectors capable ofexpressing various polypeptide coding genes. The vectors described haveconvenient multi-linker regions flanked by a promoter and apolyadenylation site for direct expression of inserted polypeptidecoding genes. Additionally, Agrobacterium containing both armed anddisarmed Ti genes can be used for transformation.

In those plant strains where Agrobacterium-mediated transformation isefficient, it is the method of choice because of the facile and definednature of the gene locus transfer. The use of Agrobacterium-mediatedplant integrating vectors to introduce DNA into plant cells is wellknown in the art (Fraley et al., Bio. Tech., 3(7):629-635, 1985; U.S.Pat. No. 5,563,055). One efficient means for transformation of cotton inparticular is transformation and regeneration of cotton hypocotylexplants following inoculation with Agrobacterium tumefaciens fromprimary callus development, embryogenesis, embryogenic callusidentification, transgenic cotton shoot production and the developmentof transgenic plants, as is known in the art.

To effect transformation by electroporation, for example, one may employeither friable tissues, such as a suspension culture of cells orembryogenic callus or alternatively one may transform immature embryosor other organized tissue directly. In this technique, one wouldpartially degrade the cell walls of the chosen cells by exposing them topectin-degrading enzymes (pectolyases) or mechanically wound tissues ina controlled manner. Protoplasts may also be employed forelectroporation transformation of plants (Bates, Mol. Biotechnol.,2(2):135-145, 1994; Lazzeri, Methods Mol. Biol., 49:95-106, 1995). Forexample, the generation of transgenic cotyledon-derived protoplasts wasdescribed by Dhir and Widholm in Intl. Patent Appl. Publ. No. WO92/17598, the disclosure of which is specifically incorporated herein byreference. When protoplasts are used, transformation can also beachieved using methods based on calcium phosphate precipitation,polyethylene glycol treatment, and combinations of these treatments(see, e.g., Potrykus et al., Mol. Gen. Genet., 199(2):169-177, 1985;Omirulleh et al., Plant Mol. Biol., 21(3):415-428, 1993; Fromm et al.,Nature, 319(6056):791-793, 1986; Uchimiya et al., Mol. Gen. Genet.,204(2):204-207, 1986; Marcotte and Bayley, Nature, 335(6189):454-457,1988).

Microprojectile bombardment is another efficient method for deliveringtransforming DNA segments to plant cells. In this method, particles arecoated with nucleic acids and delivered into cells by a propellingforce. Exemplary particles include those comprised of tungsten,platinum, and often, gold. For the bombardment, cells in suspension areconcentrated on filters or solid culture medium. Alternatively, immatureembryos or other target cells may be arranged on solid culture medium.The cells to be bombarded are positioned at an appropriate distancebelow the macroprojectile stopping plate.

Microprojectile bombardment techniques are widely applicable, and may beused to transform virtually any plant species. The application ofmicroprojectile bombardment for the transformation of cotton isdescribed, for example, in Rajasekaran et al., Mol. Breed., 2:307-319,1996. An illustrative embodiment of a method for microprojectilebombardment is the Biolistics Particle Delivery System, which can beused to propel particles coated with DNA or cells through a screen, suchas a stainless steel or Nytex screen, onto a surface covered with targetcells. The screen disperses the particles so that they are not deliveredto the recipient cells in large aggregates. It is believed that a screenintervening between the projectile apparatus and the cells to bebombarded reduces the size of projectiles aggregate and may contributeto a higher frequency of transformation by reducing the damage inflictedon the recipient cells by projectiles that are too large.

It is understood to those of skill in the art that a locus of transgenicorigin need not be directly transformed into a plant, as techniques forthe production of stably transformed cotton plants that pass single locito progeny by Mendelian inheritance is well known in the art. Suchsingle loci may therefore be passed from parent plant to progeny plantsby standard plant breeding techniques that are well known in the art.Non-limiting examples of traits that may be introduced directly or bybackcrossing are presented below.

A. Male Sterility

Male sterility genes can increase the efficiency with which hybrids aremade, in that they eliminate the need to physically emasculate the plantused as a female in a given cross. Where one desires to employmale-sterility systems, it may be beneficial to also utilize one or moremale-fertility restorer genes. For example, where cytoplasmic malesterility (CMS) is used, hybrid crossing requires three inbred lines:(1) a cytoplasmically male-sterile line having a CMS cytoplasm; (2) afertile inbred with normal cytoplasm, which is isogenic with the CMSline for nuclear genes (“maintainer line”); and (3) a distinct, fertileinbred with normal cytoplasm, carrying a fertility restoring gene(“restorer” line). The CMS line is propagated by pollination with themaintainer line, with all of the progeny being male sterile, as the CMScytoplasm is derived from the female parent. These male sterile plantscan then be efficiently employed as the female parent in hybrid crosseswith the restorer line, without the need for physical emasculation ofthe male reproductive parts of the female parent.

The presence of a male-fertility restorer gene results in the productionof fully fertile F₁ hybrid progeny. If no restorer gene is present inthe male parent, male-sterile hybrids are obtained. Examples ofmale-sterility genes and corresponding restorers which could be employedwith the plants of the invention are well known to those of skill in theart of plant breeding. Examples of such genes include CMS-D2-2, CMS-hir,CMS-D8, CMS-D4, and CMS-C1. Fertility can be restored to CMS-D2-2 by theD2 restorer in which the restorer factor(s) was introduced from thegenome of G. harknessii Brandegee (D2-2). Microsporogenesis in both CMSsystems aborts during the premeiotic stage. One dominant restorer genefrom the D8 restorer was identified to restore fertility of CMS-D8. TheD2 restorer for CMS-D2-2 also restores the fertility of CMS-D8, CMS-hir,and CMS-C1.

B. Herbicide Tolerance

Numerous herbicide tolerance genes are known and may be employed withthe plants of the invention. An example is a gene conferring toleranceto a herbicide that inhibits the growing point or meristem, such asimidazolinone or sulfonylurea. Exemplary genes in this category code formutant acetolactate synthase (ALS) and acetohydroxy acid synthase (AHAS)enzymes as described, for example, by Lee et al., EMBO J., 7:1241, 1988;Gleen et al., Plant Molec. Biology, 18:1185-1187, 1992; Miki et al.,Theor. App. Genet., 80:449, 1990.

Tolerance genes for glyphosate (tolerance conferred by mutant5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSP synthase and aroAgenes) and hygromycin B phosphotransferase) and to other phosphonocompounds such as glufosinate (phosphinothricin acetyltransferase (PAT)and Streptomyces hygroscopicus bialaphos resistance (bar) genes) mayalso be used. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,940,835 to Shah, et al.,discloses the nucleotide sequence of a form of EPSP synthase which canconfer glyphosate tolerance. A DNA molecule encoding a mutant aroA genecan be obtained under ATCC accession number 39256, and the nucleotidesequence of the mutant gene is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,769,061 toComai. A hygromycin B phosphotransferase gene from E. coli which confersresistance to glyphosate in tobacco callus and plants is described inPenaloza-Vazquez et al. (Plant Cell Reports, 14:482-487, 1995). Europeanpatent application No. 0 333 033 to Kumada et al., and U.S. Pat. No.4,975,374 to Goodman et al., disclose nucleotide sequences of glutaminesynthetase genes which confer tolerance to herbicides such asphosphinothricin. The nucleotide sequence of a phosphinothricinacetyltransferase gene is provided in European application No. 0 242 246to Leemans et al. DeGreef et al., (Bio/Technology, 7:61, 1989), describethe production of transgenic plants that express chimeric bar genescoding for phosphinothricin acetyltransferase activity. Exemplary genesconferring tolerance to herbicidal phenoxy propionic acids andcyclohexanediones, such as haloxyfop and sethoxydim are the Acct-S1,Accl-S2 and Acct-S3 genes described by Marshall et al., (Theor. App.Genet., 83:435, 1992). U.S. Patent Application No: 20030135879 describesisolation of a gene for dicamba monooxygenase (DMO) from Pseudomonasmaltophilia which is involved in the conversion of a herbicidal form ofthe herbicide dicamba to a non-toxic 3,6-dichlorosalicylic acid and thusmay be used for producing plants tolerant to this herbicide.

Genes are also known for conferring tolerance to herbicides that inhibitphotosynthesis, such as triazine (psbA and gs+ genes) and benzonitrilessuch as bromoxynil (nitrilase gene). Przibilla et al., (Plant Cell,3:169, 1991), describe the transformation of Chlamydomonas with plasmidsencoding mutant psbA genes. Nucleotide sequences for nitrilase genes aredisclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,810,648 to Stalker, and DNA moleculescontaining these genes are available under ATCC Accession Nos. 53435,67441, and 67442. Cloning and expression of DNA coding for a glutathioneS-transferase is described by Hayes et al., (Biochem. J. 285:173, 1992).Protoporphyrinogen oxidase (PPO) is the target of the PPO-inhibitorclass of herbicides; a PPO-inhibitor resistant PPO gene was recentlyidentified in Amaranthus tuberculatus (Patzoldt et al., PNAS,103(33):12329-2334, 2006). The herbicide methyl viologen inhibits CO₂assimilation. Foyer et al. (Plant Physiol., 109:1047-1057, 1995)describe a plant overexpressing glutathione reductase (GR) which isresistant to methyl viologen treatment.

Siminszky (Phytochemistry Reviews, 5:445-458, 2006) describes plantcytochrome P450-mediated detoxification of multiple, chemicallyunrelated classes of herbicides.

Other examples of herbicide resistance have been described, forinstance, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,803,501; 6,448,476; 6,248,876; 6,225,114;6,107,549; 5,866,775; 5,804,425; 5,633,435; 5,463,175.

C. Disease Resistance

Plant defenses are often activated by specific interaction between theproduct of a disease resistance gene (R) in the plant and the product ofa corresponding avirulence (Avr) gene in the pathogen. A plant line canbe transformed with cloned resistance gene to engineer plants that areresistant to specific pathogen strains. See, for example Jones et al.,Science, 266:789, 1994 (cloning of the tomato Cf-9 gene for resistanceto Cladosporium fulvum); Martin et al., Science, 262:1432, 1993 (tomatoPto gene for resistance to Pseudomonas syringae pv.); Mindrinos et al.,Cell, 78:1089, 1994 (Arabidopsis RPS2 gene for resistance to Pseudomonassyringae). Logemann et al., (Bio/technology, 10:305, 1992), for example,disclose transgenic plants expressing a barley ribosome-inactivatinggene have an increased resistance to fungal disease.

A viral-invasive protein or a complex toxin derived therefrom may alsobe used for viral disease resistance. For example, the accumulation ofviral coat proteins in transformed plant cells imparts resistance toviral infection and/or disease development effected by the virus fromwhich the coat protein gene is derived, as well as by related viruses.See Beachy et al., Ann. Rev. Phytopathol., 28:451, 1990. Coatprotein-mediated resistance has been conferred upon transformed plantsagainst alfalfa mosaic virus, cucumber mosaic virus, tobacco streakvirus, potato virus X, potato virus Y, tobacco etch virus, tobaccorattle virus and tobacco mosaic virus.

A virus-specific antibody may also be used. See, for example,Tavladoraki et al., (Nature, 366:469, 1993), who show that transgenicplants expressing recombinant antibody genes are protected from virusattack. Additional means of inducing whole-plant resistance to apathogen include modulation of the systemic acquired resistance (SAR) orpathogenesis related (PR) genes, for example genes homologous to theArabidopsis thaliana NIM1/NPR1/SAI1, and/or increasing salicylic acidproduction (Ryals et al., Plant Cell, 8:1809-1819, 1996).

Plant defensins may be used to provide resistance to fungal pathogens(Thomma et al., Planta, 216:193-202, 2002).

Nematode resistance has been described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No.6,228,992 and bacterial disease resistance in U.S. Pat. No. 5,516,671.

D. Insect Resistance

One example of an insect resistance gene includes a Bacillusthuringiensis protein, a derivative thereof, or a synthetic polypeptidemodeled thereon. See, for example, Geiser et al., (Gene, 48:109, 1986),who disclose the cloning and nucleotide sequence of a Bt δ-endotoxingene. Moreover, DNA molecules encoding δ-endotoxin genes can bepurchased from the American Type Culture Collection, Manassas, Va., forexample, under ATCC Accession Nos. 40098, 67136, 31995 and 31998.Another example is a lectin. See, for example, Van Damme et al., (PlantMolec. Biol., 24:25, 1994), who disclose the nucleotide sequences ofseveral Clivia miniata mannose-binding lectin genes. A vitamin-bindingprotein may also be used, such as avidin. See PCT applicationUS93/06487, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.This application teaches the use of avidin and avidin homologues aslarvicides against insect pests.

Yet another insect resistance gene is an enzyme inhibitor, for example,a protease or proteinase inhibitor or an amylase inhibitor. See, forexample, Abe et al., J. Biol. Chem., 262:16793, 1987 (nucleotidesequence of rice cysteine proteinase inhibitor), Huub et al., PlantMolec. Biol., 21:985, 1993 (nucleotide sequence of cDNA encoding tobaccoproteinase inhibitor I), and Sumitani et al., Biosci. Biotech. Biochem.,57:1243, 1993 (nucleotide sequence of Streptomyces nitrosporeusα-amylase inhibitor).

An insect-specific hormone or pheromone may also be used. See, forexample, Hammock et al., (Nature, 344:458, 1990) disclosing baculovirusexpression of cloned juvenile hormone esterase, an inactivator ofjuvenile hormone, Gade and Goldsworthy (Eds. Physiological System inInsects, Elsevier Academic Press, Burlington, Mass., 2007), describingallostatins and their potential use in pest control; and Palli et al.(Vitam. Horm., 73:59-100, 2005), disclosing use of ecdysteroid andecdysteroid receptor in agriculture. The diuretic hormone receptor (DHR)was identified in Price et al. (Insect Mol. Biol., 13:469-480, 2004) asa candidate target of insecticides.

Still other examples include an insect-specific antibody or animmunotoxin derived therefrom and a developmental-arrestive protein. SeeTaylor et al., (Seventh Int'l Symposium on Molecular Plant-MicrobeInteractions (Edinburgh, Scotland) Abstract #497, 1994), who describedenzymatic inactivation in transgenic tobacco via production ofsingle-chain antibody fragments.

E. Resistance to Abiotic Stresses

Abiotic stress includes dehydration or other osmotic stress, salinity,high or low light intensity, high or low temperatures, submergence,exposure to heavy metals, and oxidative stress.Delta-pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthetase (P5CS) from mothbean has beenused to provide protection against general osmotic stress.Mannitol-1-phosphate dehydrogenase (mt1D) from E. coli has been used toprovide protection against drought and salinity. Choline oxidase (codAfrom Arthrobacter globiformis) can protect against cold and salt. E.coli choline dehydrogenase (betA) provides protection against salt.Additional protection from cold can be provided by omega-3-fatty aciddesaturase (fad7) from Arabidopsis thaliana. Trehalose-6-phosphatesynthase and levansucrase (SacB) from yeast and Bacillus subtilis,respectively, can provide protection against drought (summarized fromAnnex II Genetic Engineering for Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Plants,Consultative Group On International Agricultural Research TechnicalAdvisory Committee). Overexpression of superoxide dismutase can be usedto protect against superoxides, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,538,878to Thomas et al.

F. Modified Fatty Acid, Phytate and Carbohydrate Metabolism

Genes may be used conferring modified fatty acid metabolism. Forexample, stearyl-ACP desaturase genes may be used. See Knutzon et al.,Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 89:2624, 1992. Various fatty aciddesaturases have also been described, such as a Saccharomyces cerevisiaeOLE1 gene encoding delta-9 fatty acid desaturase, an enzyme which formsthe monounsaturated palmitoleic (16:1) and oleic (18:1) fatty acids frompalmitoyl (16:0) or stearoyl (18:0) CoA (McDonough et al., J. Biol.Chem., 267(9):5931-5936, 1992); a gene encoding a stearoyl-acyl carrierprotein Δ9 desaturase from castor (Fox et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.USA, 90(6):2486-2490, 1993); Δ6 and Δ12 desaturases from thecyanobacteria Synechocystis responsible for the conversion of linoleicacid (18:2) to gamma-linolenic acid (18:3 gamma) (Reddy et al. PlantMol. Biol., 22(2):293-300, 1993); a gene from Arabidopsis thaliana thatencodes an omega-3 desaturase (Arondel et al. Science,258(5086):1353-1355, 1992); plant Δ9 desaturases (PCT Application Publ.No. WO 91/13972) and soybean and Brassica Δ15 desaturases (EuropeanPatent Application Publ. No. EP 0616644).

Phytate metabolism may also be modified by introduction of aphytase-encoding gene to enhance breakdown of phytate, adding more freephosphate to the transformed plant. For example, see Van Hartingsveldtet al., (Gene, 127:87, 1993), for a disclosure of the nucleotidesequence of an Aspergillus niger phytase gene. This, for example, couldbe accomplished by cloning and then reintroducing DNA associated withthe single allele which is responsible for mutants characterized by lowlevels of phytic acid. See Raboy et al., (Maydica, 35:383, 1990).

A number of genes are known that may be used to alter carbohydratemetabolism. For example, plants may be transformed with a gene codingfor an enzyme that alters the branching pattern of starch. See Shirozaet al., J. Bacteol., 170:810, 1988 (nucleotide sequence of Streptococcusmutans fructosyltransferase gene), Steinmetz et al., Mol. Gen. Genet.,20:220, 1985 (nucleotide sequence of Bacillus subtilis levansucrasegene), Pen et al., BioTechnology, 10:292, 1992 (production of transgenicplants that express Bacillus licheniformis α-amylase), Elliot et al.,Plant Molec. Biol., 21:515, 1993 (nucleotide sequences of tomatoinvertase genes), Sergaard et al., J. Biol. Chem., 268:22480, 1993(site-directed mutagenesis of barley α-amylase gene), and Fisher et al.,Plant Physiol., 102:1045, 1993 (maize endosperm starch branching enzymeII). The Z10 gene encoding a 10 kD zein storage protein from maize mayalso be used to alter the quantities of 10 kD zein in the cells relativeto other components (Kirihara et al., Mol. Gen. Genet., 211:477-484,1988).

G. Improved Cotton Fiber Characteristics

Fiber characteristics such as fiber quality of quantity representanother example of a trait that may be modified in cotton varieties. Forexample, U.S. Pat. No. 6,472,588 describes transgenic cotton plantstransformed with a sucrose phosphate synthase nucleic acid to alterfiber characteristics such as strength, length, fiber fineness, fibermaturity ratio, immature fiber content, fiber uniformity, andmicronaire. Cotton plants comprising one or more genes coding for anenzyme selected from the group consisting of endoxyloglucan transferase,catalase and peroxidase for the improvement of cotton fibercharacteristics are also described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,563,022. Cottonmodification using ovary-tissue transcriptional factors preferentiallydirecting gene expression in ovary tissue, particularly in very earlyfruit development, utilized to express genes encoding isopentenyltransferase in cotton ovule tissue and modify the characteristics ofboll set in cotton plants and alter fiber quality characteristicsincluding fiber dimension and strength is discussed in U.S. Pat. No.6,329,570. A gene controlling the fiber formation mechanism in cottonplants is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,169,174.

Genes involved in lignin biosynthesis are described by Dwivedi et al.,Mol. Biol., 26:61-71, 1994; Tsai et al., Physiol., 107:1459, 1995; U.S.Pat. No. 5,451,514 (claiming the use of cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenasegene in an antisense orientation such that the endogenous plant cinnamylalcohol dehydrogenase gene is inhibited).

H. Additional Traits

Additional traits can be introduced into the cotton variety of thepresent invention. A non-limiting example of such a trait is a codingsequence which decreases RNA and/or protein levels. The decreased RNAand/or protein levels may be achieved through RNAi methods, such asthose described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,506,559 to Fire and Mellow.

Another trait that may find use with the cotton variety of the inventionis a sequence which allows for site-specific recombination. Examples ofsuch sequences include the FRT sequence, used with the FLP recombinase(Zhu and Sadowski, J. Biol. Chem., 270:23044-23054, 1995); and the LOXsequence, used with CRE recombinase (Sauer, Mol. Cell. Biol.,7:2087-2096, 1987). The recombinase genes can be encoded at any locationwithin the genome of the cotton plant, and are active in the hemizygousstate.

It may also be desirable to make cotton plants more tolerant to or moreeasily transformed with Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Expression of p53 andiap, two baculovirus cell-death suppressor genes, inhibited tissuenecrosis and DNA cleavage. Additional targets can include plant-encodedproteins that interact with the Agrobacterium Vir genes; enzymesinvolved in plant cell wall formation; and histones, histoneacetyltransferases and histone deacetylases (reviewed in Gelvin,Microbiology & Mol. Biol. Reviews, 67:16-37, 2003).

III. TISSUE CULTURES AND IN VITRO REGENERATION OF COTTON PLANTS

A further aspect of the invention relates to tissue cultures of thecotton variety designated 15R508. As used herein, the term “tissueculture” indicates a composition comprising isolated cells of the sameor a different type or a collection of such cells organized into partsof a plant. Exemplary types of tissue cultures are protoplasts, calliand plant cells that are intact in plants or parts of plants, such asembryos, pollen, flowers, leaves, roots, root tips, anthers, and thelike. In one embodiment, the tissue culture comprises embryos,protoplasts, meristematic cells, pollen, leaves or anthers.

An important ability of a tissue culture is the capability to regeneratefertile plants. This allows, for example, transformation of the tissueculture cells followed by regeneration of transgenic plants. Fortransformation to be efficient and successful, DNA must be introducedinto cells that give rise to plants or germ-line tissue.

Plants typically are regenerated via two distinct processes; shootmorphogenesis and somatic embryogenesis. Shoot morphogenesis is theprocess of shoot meristem organization and development. Shoots grow outfrom a source tissue and are excised and rooted to obtain an intactplant. During somatic embryogenesis, an embryo (similar to the zygoticembryo), containing both shoot and root axes, is formed from somaticplant tissue. An intact plant rather than a rooted shoot results fromthe germination of the somatic embryo.

Shoot morphogenesis and somatic embryogenesis are different processesand the specific route of regeneration is primarily dependent on theexplant source and media used for tissue culture manipulations. Whilethe systems are different, both systems show variety-specific responseswhere some lines are more responsive to tissue culture manipulationsthan others. A line that is highly responsive in shoot morphogenesis maynot generate many somatic embryos. Lines that produce large numbers ofembryos during an induction step may not give rise to rapidly-growingproliferative cultures. Therefore, it may be desired to optimize tissueculture conditions for each cotton line. These optimizations may readilybe carried out by one of skill in the art of tissue culture throughsmall-scale culture studies. In addition to line-specific responses,proliferative cultures can be observed with both shoot morphogenesis andsomatic embryogenesis. Proliferation is beneficial for both systems, asit allows a single, transformed cell to multiply to the point that itwill contribute to germ-line tissue.

Embryogenic cultures can also be used successfully for regeneration,including regeneration of transgenic plants, if the origin of theembryos is recognized and the biological limitations of proliferativeembryogenic cultures are understood. Biological limitations include thedifficulty in developing proliferative embryogenic cultures and reducedfertility problems (culture-induced variation) associated with plantsregenerated from long-term proliferative embryogenic cultures. Some ofthese problems are accentuated in prolonged cultures. The use of morerecently cultured cells may decrease or eliminate such problems.

IV. DEFINITIONS

In the description and tables herein, a number of terms are used. Inorder to provide a clear and consistent understanding of thespecification and claims, the following definitions are provided:

A: When used in conjunction with the word “comprising” or other openlanguage in the claims, the words “a” and “an” denote “one or more.”

Allele: Any of one or more alternative forms of a gene locus, all ofwhich alleles relate to one trait or characteristic. In a diploid cellor organism, the two alleles of a given gene occupy corresponding locion a pair of homologous chromosomes.

Backcrossing: A process in which a breeder repeatedly crosses hybridprogeny, for example a first generation hybrid (F₁), back to one of theparents of the hybrid progeny. Backcrossing can be used to introduce oneor more single locus conversions from one genetic background intoanother.

Crossing: The mating of two parent plants.

Cross-pollination: Fertilization by the union of two gametes fromdifferent plants.

Desired Agronomic Characteristics: Agronomic characteristics (which willvary from crop to crop and plant to plant) such as yield, maturity, pestresistance and lint percent which are desired in a commerciallyacceptable crop or plant. For example, improved agronomiccharacteristics for cotton include yield, maturity, fiber content andfiber qualities.

Diploid: A cell or organism having two sets of chromosomes.

Disease Resistance: The ability of plants to restrict the activities ofa specified pest, such as an insect, fungus, virus, or bacteria.

Disease Tolerance: The ability of plants to endure a specified pest(such as an insect, fungus, virus or bacteria) or an adverseenvironmental condition and still perform and produce in spite of thisdisorder.

Donor Parent: The parent of a variety which contains the gene or traitof interest which is desired to be introduced into a second variety.

ELS: The abbreviation for “Extra Long Staple.” ELS is the groupclassification for cotton in the longest staple length category. As usedin practice and for commerce, ELS denotes varieties belonging to thespecies G. barbadense that have superior fiber qualities, includingclassification in the longest staple length category.

Emasculate: The removal of plant male sex organs or the inactivation ofthe organs with a cytoplasmic or nuclear genetic factor conferring malesterility or a chemical agent.

Essentially all of the morphological and physiological characteristics:A plant having essentially all of the morphological and physiologicalcharacteristics of a designated plant has all of the characteristics ofthe plant that are otherwise present when compared in the sameenvironment, other than an occasional variant trait that might ariseduring backcrossing or direct introduction of a transgene.

F₁ Hybrid: The first generation progeny of the cross of two nonisogenicplants.

Fallout (Fo): As used herein, the term “fallout” refers to the rating ofhow much cotton has fallen on the ground at harvest.

2.5% Fiber Span Length: Refers to the longest 2.5% of a bundle of fibersexpressed in inches as measured by a digital fibergraph.

Fiber Characteristics: Refers to fiber qualities such as strength, fiberlength, micronaire, fiber elongation, uniformity of fiber and amount offiber.

Fiber Elongation: Sometimes referred to as E1, refers to the elongationof the fiber at the point of breakage in the strength determination asmeasured by High Volume Instrumentation (HVI).

Fiber Span Length: The distance spanned by a specific percentage offibers in a test specimen, where the initial starting point of thescanning in the test is considered 100 percent as measured by a digitalfibergraph.

Fiber Strength: Also referred to as T1, denotes the force required tobreak a bundle of fibers. Fiber strength is expressed in millinewtons(mn) per tex on a stelometer.

Fruiting Nodes: The number of nodes on the main stem from which arisebranches that bear fruit or boll in the first position.

Genotype: The genetic constitution of a cell or organism.

Gin Turnout: Refers to fraction of lint in a machine harvested sample ofseed cotton (lint, seed, and trash).

Haploid: A cell or organism having one set of the two sets ofchromosomes in a diploid.

Linkage: A phenomenon wherein alleles on the same chromosome tend tosegregate together more often than expected by chance if theirtransmission was independent.

Lint Index: The weight of lint per seed in milligrams.

Lint Percent: Refers to the lint (fiber) fraction of seed cotton (lintand seed).

Lint Yield: Refers to the measure of the quantity of fiber produced on agiven unit of land. Presented herein in pounds of lint per acre.

Lint/boll: As used herein, the term “lint/boll” is the weight of lintper boll.

Maturity Rating: A visual rating near harvest on the amount of openbolls on the plant. The rating range is from 1 to 5, 1 being early and 5being late.

Micronaire: A measure of the fineness of the fiber. Within a cottoncultivar, micronaire is also a measure of maturity. Micronairedifferences are governed by changes in perimeter or in cell wallthickness, or by changes in both. Within a variety, cotton perimeter isfairly consistent and maturity will cause a change in micronaire.Consequently, micronaire has a high correlation with maturity within avariety of cotton. Maturity is the degree of development of cell wallthickness. Micronaire may not have a good correlation with maturitybetween varieties of cotton having different fiber perimeter. Micronairevalues range from about 2.0 to 6.0:

Phenotype: The detectable characteristics of a cell or organism, whichcharacteristics are the manifestation of gene expression.

Plant Height: The average height in meters of a group of plants.

Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL): Quantitative trait loci (QTL) refer togenetic loci that control to some degree numerically representabletraits that are usually continuously distributed.

Recurrent Parent: The repeating parent (variety) in a backcross breedingprogram. The recurrent parent is the variety into which a gene or traitis desired to be introduced.

Regeneration: The development of a plant from tissue culture.

Seed/boll: Refers to the number of seeds per boll.

Seedcotton/boll: Refers to the weight of seedcotton per boll.

Seedweight: Refers to the weight of 100 seeds in grams.

Self-pollination: The transfer of pollen from the anther to the stigmaof the same plant or a plant of the same genotype.

Single Locus Converted (Conversion) Plant: Plants which are developed bya plant breeding technique called backcrossing wherein essentially allof the morphological and physiological characteristics of a variety arerecovered in addition to the characteristics conferred by the singlelocus transferred into the variety via the backcrossing technique. Asingle locus may comprise one gene, or in the case of transgenic plants,one or more transgenes integrated into the host genome at a single site(locus).

Stringout Rating: also sometimes referred to as “Storm Resistance”refers to a visual rating prior to harvest of the relative looseness ofthe seed cotton held in the boll structure on the plant. The ratingvalues are from 1 to 5 (tight to loose in the boll).

Substantially Equivalent: A characteristic that, when compared, does notshow a statistically significant difference (e.g., p=0.05) from themean.

Tissue Culture: A composition comprising isolated cells of the same or adifferent type or a collection of such cells organized into parts of aplant.

Transgene: A genetic locus comprising a sequence which has beenintroduced into the genome of a cotton plant by transformation.

Uniformity Ratio: A measure of the relative fiber span length uniformityof a bundle of fibers. The uniformity ratio is determined by dividingthe 50% fiber span length by the 2.5% fiber span length.

Vegetative Nodes: The number of nodes from the cotyledonary node to thefirst fruiting branch on the main stem of the plant.

V. DEPOSIT INFORMATION

A deposit of the cotton variety 15R508, which is disclosed herein aboveand referenced in the claims, was made with the American Type CultureCollection (ATCC), 10801 University Blvd., Manassas, Va. 20110-2209. Thedate of deposit is May 24, 2017 and the accession number for thosedeposited seeds of cotton variety 15R508 is ATCC Accession No.PTA-124153. All restrictions upon the deposit have been removed, and thedeposit is intended to meet all of the requirements of 37 C.F.R.§1.801-1.809. The deposit will be maintained in the depository for aperiod of 30 years, or 5 years after the last request, or for theeffective life of the patent, whichever is longer, and will be replacedif necessary during that period.

What is claimed is:
 1. A plant of cotton variety 15R508, wherein asample of seed of said variety has been deposited under ATCC AccessionNo. PTA-124153.
 2. A plant part of the plant of claim 1, wherein theplant part comprises at least one cell of said plant.
 3. The plant partof claim 2, further defined as pollen, a meristem, a cell, or an ovule.4. A seed of cotton variety 15R508, wherein a sample of seed of saidvariety has been deposited under ATCC Accession No. PTA-124153.
 5. Acotton plant that expresses all of the morphological and physiologicalcharacteristics of cotton variety 15R508, wherein a sample of seed ofsaid variety has been deposited under ATCC Accession No. PTA-124153. 6.A method of producing cotton seed, wherein the method comprises crossingthe plant of claim 1 with itself or a second cotton plant.
 7. The methodof claim 6, wherein the method comprises crossing the plant of cottonvariety 15R508 with a second, distinct cotton plant to produce an F1hybrid cotton seed.
 8. An F1 cotton seed produced by the method of claim7.
 9. A cotton plant produced by growing the seed of claim
 8. 10. Acomposition comprising a seed of cotton variety 15R508 comprised inplant seed growth media, wherein a sample of seed of said variety hasbeen deposited under ATCC Accession No. PTA-124153.
 11. The compositionof claim 10, wherein the growth media is soil or a synthetic cultivationmedium.
 12. A plant of cotton variety 15R508 further comprising a singlelocus conversion, wherein a sample of seed of cotton variety 15R508 hasbeen deposited under ATCC Accession No. PTA-124153.
 13. The plant ofclaim 12, wherein the single converted locus conversion comprises atransgene.
 14. A seed that produces the plant of claim
 12. 15. The seedof claim 14, wherein the single converted locus comprises a nucleic acidsequence that enables site-specific genetic recombination or confers atrait selected from the group consisting of male sterility, herbicidetolerance, insect or pest resistance, disease resistance, modified fattyacid metabolism, abiotic stress resistance, modified carbohydratemetabolism and modified cotton fiber characteristics.
 16. The seed ofclaim 15, wherein the single converted locus confers tolerance to anherbicide selected from the group consisting of glyphosate,sulfonylurea, imidazolinone, dicamba, glufosinate, phenoxy propionicacid, cyclohexanedione, triazine, benzonitrile, and bromoxynil.
 17. Theseed of claim 15, wherein the trait is insect resistance and said singleconverted locus comprises a transgene encoding a Bacillus thuringiensis(Bt) endotoxin.
 18. The seed of claim 14, wherein the single convertedlocus comprises a transgene.
 19. The method of claim 7, wherein themethod further comprises: (a) crossing a plant grown from said F1 hybridcotton seed with itself or a different cotton plant to produce a seed ofa progeny plant of a subsequent generation; (b) growing a progeny plantof a subsequent generation from said seed of a progeny plant of asubsequent generation and crossing the progeny plant of a subsequentgeneration with itself or a second plant to produce a progeny plant of afurther subsequent generation; and (c) repeating steps (a) and (b) usingsaid progeny plant of a further subsequent generation from step (b) inplace of the plant grown from said F1 hybrid cotton seed in step (a),wherein steps (a) and (b) are repeated with sufficient inbreeding toproduce an inbred cotton plant derived from the cotton variety 15R508.20. The method of claim 19, further comprising crossing said inbredcotton plant derived from the cotton variety 15R508 with a plant of adifferent genotype to produce a seed of a hybrid cotton plant derivedfrom the cotton variety 15R508.
 21. A method of producing a commodityplant product comprising collecting the commodity plant product from aplant of cotton variety 15R508, wherein a sample of seed of said varietyhas been deposited under ATCC Accession No. PTA-124153.
 22. The methodof claim 21, wherein the commodity plant product is lint, seed oil, orseed.